Chocolate Snickerdoodles
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Chocolate Snickerdoodles are a warm and cozy twist on the classic. My recipe makes soft and chewy cookies with no mixer and no chilling! Recipe includes a how-to video!
Sweet, Chocolate Cinnamon Cookies
These chocolate snickerdoodles are a chocolatey take on my classic snickerdoodle recipe that you’ll love (maybe even more than the original!). The flavor is warm and slightly spiced, with perfectly textured, crackly outsides and rich, chocolatey interiors. They’re like a cup of hot cocoa on a snowy Christmas night–so festive!
Chocolate and cinnamon is a somewhat unusual, but stellar combination (think Mexican hot chocolate!). The chocolate is rich and decadent while the cinnamon is sharp and bright. Both work together beautifully to create a cozy holiday flavor.
These are thick, soft, chewy cookies made with NO mixer and NO chilling! You’ll love how simple the recipe is (just 11 ingredients!), and it can easily be doubled for lots of cookies.
What You Need
If you’ve made snickerdoodles before, some of these ingredients won’t surprise you. There are a few others worth nothing though:
- Cream of tartar. If you’re a snickerdoodle fan, then you already know that cream of tartar is essential in any snickerdoodle recipe! It adds that classic tang and is truly what makes a snickerdoodle a snickerdoodle. It can typically be found in the spice section of your local grocery store. Don’t leave it out or your cookies won’t actually be chocolate snickerdoodles.
- Cinnamon. We’ll add a pinch of cinnamon to the dough for flavor in addition to the rolling mixture, just enough to make sure it doesn’t get lost among the chocolate flavors.
- Cocoa powder. I recommend using natural cocoa powder for best results. You could get away with substituting Dutch process cocoa, but the flavor profile will be quite different.
- Egg + egg yolk. Adding an extra egg yolk makes these chocolate snickerdoodles nice and tender. Leaving out the second egg white means the dough can bake right away without chilling first and they will be perfectly thick without spreading too much.
SAM’S TIP: Typically snickerdoodles are rolled in a cinnamon sugar mixture, but we’re adding a bit of cocoa powder into the mix to play up the chocolate flavor.
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Chocolate Snickerdoodles
- Whisk together the melted butter and cocoa powder, then stir in the sugars.
- Add the eggs and vanilla and stir until combined.
- Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then gradually add them to the wet ingredients.
- Whisk together your cinnamon, cocoa, and sugar mixture.
- Roll your cookie dough balls through the cinnamon mixture before placing on a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 8 minutes, then let the cookies cool completely on their sheets before enjoying.
SAM’S TIP: If you prefer thinner/flatter chocolate snickerdoodles, use 2 whole eggs (instead of 1 egg + 1 yolk) and chill the dough for a minimum of 30-60 minutes.
Frequently Asked Questions
This dough is designed to be rolled and baked immediately after preparing. You can make it in advance, but please know that chilling the dough will make it a bit dry and will make your chocolate snickerdoodles even thicker and less likely to spread. Make sure to cover your dough tightly before chilling and chill for no more than a few days.
While not traditional, this does sound delicious! I’d add about a cup or so of chocolate chips once your dry ingredients are about 50% incorporated.
To really play into the Mexican hot chocolate flavor, you can add some cayenne pepper. I’d start with 1/8 teaspoon (this is how much I add to my soft & chewy gingersnaps!) and go from there, depending on how spicy you want them.
If you’re a fan of these chocolate snickerdoodles, give my pumpkin snickerdoodles a try!
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
Chocolate Snickerdoodles
Ingredients
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, melted
- ¼ cup (25 g) natural cocoa powder
- 1 cup (200) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (100 g) light brown sugar, firmly packed
- 1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk, room temperature preferred
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ¾ cup (340) all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
For rolling:
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon cocoa powder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine melted butter and cocoa powder and whisk until smooth.1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, ¼ cup (25 g) natural cocoa powder
- Add sugars and stir until combined.1 cup (200) granulated sugar, ½ cup (100 g) light brown sugar
- Stir in eggs and vanilla extract.1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt, and ground cinnamon.2 ¾ cup (340) all-purpose flour, 1 ½ teaspoons cream of tartar, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ¾ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients. I like to do slowly, in 4-5 parts, as this makes a stiff dough and adding all of the flour at once will make it difficult to absorb and could leave you with a crumbly, unworkable dough.
- In a separate small mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar, cinnamon, and cocoa powder for rolling.½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar, 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon cocoa powder
- Scoop dough into 1 ½ Tablespoon sized scoops and roll between your palms to form a smooth ball. Roll evenly through cinnamon sugar, then transfer to prepared baking sheet, spacing cookies at least 2” apart. For flatter cookies, gently press down to flatten them before baking.
- Transfer to center rack of 350F (175C) oven and bake for 8 minutes. Allow cookies to cool completely on baking sheet before enjoying.
Notes
Storing
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
I originally published this recipe in 2016. I’ve updated it to give the cookies a richer chocolate flavor and to make the recipe more straightforward.
Absolutely the best. Have them to a friend who didn’t like snickerdoodles and they kept coming over for more!
I’m so glad they were such a hit! 🙂
Fantastic! Won’t change a thing.
My daughter asked why I haven’t been making these her whole life.
Thank you for another winner.
I’m so glad they were such a hit, Kelli! 🙂
They’re great. I’ve never had snickerdoodles but wanted to try them. Plus my kids are obsessed with anything chocolate. Only downside I had too much leftover of the sugar mixture so I’ll be making another batch in the near future.
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed them so much, Yaritza! 🙂
Hi
Can these Chocolate Snickerdoodles be done with Gluten Free Flour?
Hi Ally! I have not personally tried using a gluten free flour so I can’t say for sure how it would work. If you do try it I would love to know how it goes. 🙂
Delicious! My family likes these better than regular snickerdoodles.
Also, I like that you reminded us of the ingredient measurements in each step – that’s helpful when using a cell phone to read the recipe!
I’m so glad it was helpful! Thank you for the feedback, Lisa! 🙂
can I make these without cream of tartar? it’s a blizzard and I don’t want to leave lol
Hi Bobbie! The cream of tartar gives these their signature snickerdoodle taste. You can substitute 2.25 teaspoons of baking powder. Enjoy! 🙂
Is the original recipe available somewhere? The previous version is my four year olds very favorite cookie and I made it again recently and it didn’t come out nearly as well. I thought I’d down something wrong but now I realized the recipe is different. The previous version required chilling the dough etc and we really preferred it… I would like to find it so we can write it down.
Sent you an email!
This is a terric chocolate cookie. Because it is only the two of us I usually cut the recipes I make in half. Not real big on recipes with an odd number of eggs so I made this recipe with one egg only, chilled the dough and loved the results.
Thank you Sam. You are still my ‘go to’ baker.
I’m so glad you enjoyed these so much, Tom! 🙂
These were a big hit!
Sam—
No gram weight was listed for flour and 1/2 cup sugar for rolling sugar mixture should be 100 grams.
Oh my goodness, you’re absolutely right. I just fixed that, thank you so much, Cheryl!
This is pure perfection. My favourite cookies by far!
hey! can i leave the dough in the fridge for longer than 30 minutes? what is the maximum time in the fridge? thank you!
Hi Alexa! I would use it within a few days. 🙂
I’ve made these twice now, and I’m happy with them! I like to use different spices, and these are great with cardamom in addition to the cinnamon or with Chinese 5 spice!
I’m so glad you enjoy them so much! 🙂
Oh my gosh. I knew these would be good, both because every recipe on this blog I’ve tried so far is amazing and because who doesn’t love chocolate and cinnamon?! But… oh my gosh. I was not prepared for just how perfect these would be. Everyone needs a chocolate snickerdoodle in their lives. Please try this recipe, you will not be disappointed! Thank you so much Sam!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Sade! 🙂
Should the cocoa powder be unsweetened?
Yup! Enjoy 🙂
Thanks so much for this recipe it is soooo good- now in my top 5 all time favorite cookies. Wow- they are good and you cant just eat 1 cookie.
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Bev! 🙂
I used the new Dark Chocolate cocoa and fine sea salt in this recipe if you like to amp up the chocolate flavor and that have that hint of salty bite.
Ooo that sounds delicious! 🙂
These were a huge hit! I will definitely make them again. 🙂
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Tracy! 🙂